Felt fabric



T. S. MCDERMOTT FELT FABRic May 24, 1927. 1,629,923

Filed Decyzv. 192s B www n Y:

lnvenTor Thomas SMCermoTT bW/MJMM -THoMAs s. McDERMo'TT, or rnANxLN,

Patented May 24, 1927 UNITED STAT Lan-monnano'r'r co., or FRANKLIN, cmtrsn'r'rs.'

Es PATENT ori-fica.

`iirAssAcnUsn'rcrs, Assrenon 'ro CLARK-ournAssAonUsE'r'rs, A coaroaA'rIoN or xAssA- frnm: :Allard Application and December a7, 192s. vserial No. 157,032.y

rIfhis invention relateslto felt fabrics of that type which-comprises a base 'layer or ply of woven or knitted fabric, and a body of felt or unspun fibres secured thereto.v

In some fabrics of this typel the felt body or layer of unspun fibres Yis attached to the woven or knitted fabric base by pricking through the felt and woven or knitted fabric with needles, this operation carrying some of the fibres of the felt through the woven fabric and interlocking the fibres therewith. It is also a common ing to the back face o the combined layers. the sizing or. finished coating serving to firmly attach to the woven fabric thefibres which have been pricked therethrough and also to give the base or woven fabric layer a little more body. l'

Feltfabrics of this nature are used for various purposes and the-character of the fibres 'in the felt body )vill vary more .or less according to the use to which the fabric is put. -For some purpose it is desirable that the felt fabric should have a more or less resilient character, in which case the felt body would be made partially or wholly of wool fibres or some other fibres which have a high degree of resiliency.

A felt slipper and a felt insole are illus- -A trations of articles in which it is desirable that the felt fabric should retain its resiliency.

In the making of a felt fabric in the manner above outlined it sometimes happens that the sizing or finishing coating which is applied to the back face of the fabric will soak through the woven ply and saturate a portion of the yfelt body. `When the Vsizing' dries or hardens it renders the sized portion stiff and unyielding and if the siz illilg does work through into the felt body t en the sizing incorporated therein isf stiff and unyielding and the resiliency of the felt body is thereby reduced. f

It is one of the objects of my present invention toI provide a novel felt fabricof this naturewhich-is constructed so that the sizing will be prevented from working into the felt body whereby said body will retain its full resilient characteristic. I; accomplish this end by interposing between the felt body or Woven fabric ply a layer or ply which acts as a barrier to preventA the surpractice to apply siz-` lthe completed fabric.

the portion of the felt body which has Y plus 'sizing which soaks through the woven fabric from passing into the feltfabric. This -barrier layer will preferably be one which has the characteristic of readily absorbing the sizing vs o that any surplus sizing whichl works through the woven fabric will be readily .absorbed by the barrier layer and will be -prevented from soaking or working into the felt fabric. f

I find that jute makes an excellent material for the barrier layer and Oneway of practicing the invention is to,first attach a layer of jute libres to the base orwoven fabric ply and then to superpose on the jute layer the felt body and attach the latter to the jute layer and the woven fabric, after which the sizing is applied as usual.

A fabric embodying the invention, there# V fore, comprisesa base layer of woven or knitted fabric, a body layer of felt or unspun fibres attached to the base ply, a barrier layer interposed between the woven fabric and the feltbodyand the sizing coating applied to the back of the fabric.

Inl order togive an understanding of the invention I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof and also some of the steps by which it may be made.

Fig. 1v is a view showing the operation of uniting the barrier layer or ply to the woven layer or base; Fig. 2 shows thestep of uniting the felt or bodyvlayer to the vwoven baseg, Y

Fig. 3 is a sectional viewillustrating the Referring first to Fig. 3 the complete fabric has the base layer 1 of woven or knitted fabric,^the body 2 of felt or unspun fibres and the barrier layer or ply-3 which is interposed between the felt layer-2 and the base ply l of woven fabric.

f In makingthe complete fabric I will preferably first attach the barrier layer 3 to the woven ply l and this may conveniently be done by superposing the barrier layer on the woven fabric and then pricking through both layers with needles tv as shown in Fig. 1. The barrier layer 3 may conveniently be made of unspun fibres in the nature.v of a felt and the pricking operation serves to carry some of the fibres 5 of the layer 3 through the woven fabric 1 thereby uniting the two layers or plies. The layer 3 will preferably, beof some material which has vus as shown in Fig. 1 a. relatively thick layer or ply of felt 2 is then superposed on the layer 3 and the felt layer 2 is then attached to the woven fabric layer l by pricking through all three layers by the needles 4 as' shown in Fig. 2. This second pricking operation carries fibres of the felt layer 2L into and through thel barrier layer 3 and also into andthrough the layer 1 of the Woven fabric and it also carries additional fibres of the barrier layer`3 through the Woven fabric .1. When the pricking process is completed. therefore, the two layers 2 and 3 are firmly united to the base layer 1 by reason of the many fibresof layers 2 and 3 which are carried into and interlocked with the Woven fabric 1.

After the three layers have been thus connected together a coating of sizing is applied to the under face of the woven fabric ,layer l, this sizing penetrating into and through the Woven Ifabric l more or less.

The fibres of the layers 2 and 3 which have been pricked through the woven fabric 1 are firmly anchored in the sizing when the latter dries and thus the layers are firmly bound together.`

Any of the sizing which passes through the Woven fabric 1 will loe/absorbed by the barrier layer 3 since the latter is of a nature that Areadily absorbs' sizing. The presence of this barrier layer 3 will prevent any of the sizing from Working into the felt layer 2 and. therefore, there is no danger that the resiliency of the felt will be reduced by reason of the fact that a portion of the felt becomes saturated with the sizing.

I claim:

1. A felt fabric comprising a base ply of Woven or knitted fabric, a body ply of felt attached to the base ply. the latter having a coating of sizing applied thereto, and a barrier ply or. layer interposed between the base ply and the felt body.y said barrier ply having the quality of absorbingany surplus sizing which soaks through the base ply. thereby preventing said` sizing from passing into the felt body. whereby the latter will not have its resiliency reduced by being partially saturated with sizing.

2. A felt fabric comprising a base ply of woven 'or knitted fabric. a barrier ply1 of jute fibres attached to the base ply. a body ply of felt overlying the barrier ply. and also attached to the base ply. said fabric havinglr a coating. of sizing applied to the back face of the woven fabric ply. the barrier ply absorbing any surplus sizing which penetrates the woven fabric and preventing such sizing from Working into the felt ply.

In testimony whereof. I have signed in v name to 4this specification.

THOMAS S. BCDERMOTT. 

